Thoughts of Inspiration!

Most Christians Cannot Explain their Faith!

Many things are happening today that should cause Christians to pause and take note. The Church for instance. Just stop and ponder a moment about the changes that has come over the past 20 years. As I share a few thoughts and make a few observations, please pray concerning what you are reading. First thing I would like to do is define the word contemporary. 1. existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time. 2. of about the same age or date. 3. of the present time; modern: a lecture on the contemporary novel. For the task at hand, modern, will fit best for this devotion. It is obvious that modern Churches have some pros and cons. First the positives. Contemporary praise and worship songs can be very uplifting and Christ honoring. They seem to have a more upbeat tone than some of the traditional hymns which can stir some emotion into the worship. This is not to say that emotionalism is all good but does seem to honor Christ when He Commanded us to Love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Modern Churches with modern worship services can be very Glorifying to Christ and can lead many to Christ as Savior.
Secondly the negatives. Contemporary praise and worship can become idiolatry just as traditional. If the worshiper is getting a high and is focused on the entertainment value, then to much emotion can certainly lead the worshiper to commit idiolatry by getting a boost of adrenaline instead of focusing on Glorifying God with their all!
Now lets look at Preaching the Word of God. Worship is important and preaching is part of that worship. The problem comes when Preaching contemporary messages. So many Churches have abandoned Rock solid Bible Preaching for some hybrid modern seeker friendly social club! Not offending anyone or making people feel comfortable seems to be the standard. I recently read an article about this very subject and would like to share. The title speaks volumes: Most Christians Cannot Explain their Faith, Says Apologist. Here is the article. The faith of most Christians, even that of many pastors, will not stand up to intellectual scrutiny, according to renowned apologist Josh McDowell.
This is a concern because pastors’ inability to present biblical truth comprehensibly and relevantly has led to children from Christian families leaving the church, research has shown.
In the United States, the age at which nearly all such children leave church has decreased to 18 years.
Not even the children of many successful ministers are spared.
McDowell made his comments at a recent networking dinner among various men’s ministries organized recently by Men-in-Covenant. MiC is the men’s ministry of Covenant Evangelical Free Church.

He recalled speaking with the pastor of one of the largest U.S. churches, a man known for his expository preaching. Confiding in him, the pastor said their church was losing its youth right after high school graduation.
In his 50 years of ministry, McDowell has asked several thousand pastors and leaders how they could be certain Jesus Christ said “I am the truth” and not one of many truths or a truth.
“Not one person has ever given me an intelligent, biblically-based answer,” said the author of The New Evidence that Demands A Verdict.

During the past six years, he asked hundreds of Christians and leaders why they see themselves as Christians. Again no one gave him an “intelligent” answer. In the past 17 years, he has asked over 4,000 pastors, leaders and parents why they believe the Bible is true. A mere six “came close to giving an intelligent answer,” McDowell noted.
“If anything is based upon truth, it’s the Christian faith,” he said. “Christians who do not know why they have faith or believe have a very difficult time expressing themselves to others.
“The saddest thing is people come to me and say, ‘What’s the answer?’”
“I say, ‘There’s no answer… There are hundreds of answers.’”

Most Christians, even some pastors, don’t even know one. On the other hand, the apologist said he could give 50 reasons for his belief that the Bible is true. Ninety-five percent of Christians gave disappointing responses when asked why they believe Jesus is the Son of God.
Asked why the Bible is true and historically reliable, Christians replied that it was what they had been taught by their church or parents.

A common response that most Christians gave to both questions was that it is “what I believe.” McDowell responded: “That’s voodoo thinking. Where did we ever get that crazy idea that something is true just because we believe it?
“If that is true, then there will never be heresy. Everybody would be right.”
On one occasion, 13 youth pastors at a large convention were unable to reasonably answer the apologist’s question.

Finally one young person stood up, walked toward him and told him he knew the answer. The young man promptly held up his Bible and said, “Because I believe it.”
And to McDowell’s dismay, all the youth pastors applauded him.
McDowell said, “Young man, do you know the difference between you, me and the majority of Christians in the world?
“To you, it is true because you believe it. For me, I believe it because it is true.” Another response the apologist received was: Because I have faith.
He commented, “Where did we ever get the crazy idea that faith makes something true? That’s idiotic. That’s so unbiblical you can call it heresy.
“God doesn’t use faith to create truth. He uses truth through the Holy Spirit to create faith.”
Christians, the apologist stressed, are called to explain their faith when asked. They are set free by the faith in the truth, he expressed, referring to John 8:32.

Yet others say Christianity is true because Jesus changed their lives.
Even this will not stand up to intellectual scrutiny, McDowell argued.
“Lies change lives; cults change lives,” he said.
To make such an appeal is “not the essence of Christianity,” the author emphasized.
McDowell said: “We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our children, we owe it to our neighbors, we owe it to the lost, to tell them not just what we believe but why do we believe it.”

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2 Responses

Hmmmmmm. Interesting. I’m thinking. Hmmmm. How would I answer if asked to ‘explain my faith.’ I say that I can’t explain it to the satisfaction of another. God/Truth/Christ/Gospel/Salvation/Word…and so forth…is complex beyond what we can comprehend…much less ‘explain’ to sufficiently satisfy the criteria of another soul. FAITH IS PERSONAL….colored with the experiences, understanding, and degree of faith given by the Father to each who believes, to each man who confesses Christ (Romans 10:9), and to each man who commits righteousness as fruits of repentance amidst regeneration from death to Life….under the guidance of the Holy Comforter. Only the Spirit within an individual can bear witness to the same Spirit within another. It is not so simple as giving an answer that may be deemed ‘intelligent’ by another. For me…Faith comes only from a changed heart…an encounter between the natural heart of a man and the supernatural heart of the Father. Faith is KNOWING God. Faith is TRUSTING God. Faith is SERVING God. Faith is KEEPING the commandments. Faith is a life-long process of renewal and encounter beyond what many can understand. Each man’s experience with God is unique since each man is unique. Salvation is PERSONAL…not mass produced. The power of the Gospel …according to Matthew 16: 15-18… is encounter with the Divine Father who reveals Truth found in the living Christ(And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven….and followed by being ‘known’ to the Father and Son, by way of the Holy Spirit (18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; ).

Faith, Salvation, Righteousness, Holiness, and so forth….are all experiences of the supernatural realm of God and are not explainable to mortal man….apart from those who themselves are members of the Kingdom of God which is in the world…but not of the world. And…mind you…I readily confess I have not received the fulness of what God desires for me since I have not completely yielded myself to such heavenly gifts. But I desire them. And God is bringing me to a new place. I am learning daily to excercise the senses ‘by reason of use’ in the area of rejecting temptation to serve the flesh man through gluttony (pleasures of food to the detriment of the body intended to be the Temple of God:, through wasting PRECIOUS time on Turner Broadcasting’s Classic Movies…when souls are needful of fellowship which would lead them to salvation….and so forth (Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. )

My sins…both of omission and comission are such that I neither have the right… nor the heart to point out the failures of others. I am as filthy rags before the Father and I am accountable before Him for each and every sin practiced for ‘fleshly’ benefit. I am indebted to Him…to YIELD my body as the Temple of God…because of the immense purchase price paid by God and Christ the Lamb.

Thanks again for comment. I believe therefore it is true is the point of interest and purpose of the article. The Truth never changes whether one believes or not. Every Christian should know what the believe and why. 1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.